We Are Family
by Zumkalt
Summary: Just a little moment between Jane, Kurt and Avery, or when Avery learns some things about her mother. Inspired by the dinner scene in the episode 3x20, before they learn of Roman's intentions. Takes place between 3x20 and 3x21.


Hello everyone. So, I wrote this after watching the 3x20, but with the real life and many small things which kept me busy, I couldn't translate and post it before this heartbreaking season finale. Hope you can enjoy it anyway.

Thanks to my wonderful beta Reader-only76 without whom this story would be much less understandable to you, and thanks to lshd for the support ^^

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 **Disclaimer** : I don't own Blindspot. The story and characters are the property of Martin Gero

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 **We Are Family**

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\- "Who wants to watch a movie?" Kurt offered once the plates were cleared and washed. Jane immediately looked hopefully towards her daughter, trying to hide her desire to see her join them in this family activity. The day had been long and full of conflicting emotions, starting with an argument between her and Avery because of her slightly overprotective tendencies, and ending with this extremely quiet dinner. Once again, Roman's manipulation had involved the girl, confronting her with her father's death again, this time with the fact that he had been murdered. The situation had awakened some mixed feelings within her, and the dark-haired woman didn't know which was better: for Avery to continue to believe that the man who had raised her was a criminal who had committed suicide, or that she now knew that he was actually murdered because Crawford feared he would report his crimes to the authorities.

Somehow, despite all that he had done, she knew that Avery still loved her father, which she fully understood. Despite all that he had done to her… everything they had said to each other recently… Jane was still felt a deep love for her brother too. Certainly it was tempered by her anger at his actions against her, and she was determined to do everything she could to stop him, especially if he threatened her friends or family again. But still, she preferred to remember him as the brother she loved and tried to protect after she had erased his memory. Stopping him would actually be less of an act of revenge and more of an act of… mercy. Roman was clearly showing signs of losing control, sinking into his own madness, his judgment obscured by his desire for revenge, but Jane knew there wouldn't be many options out for him. If they managed to take him alive, her brother would probably end up in a CIA blacksite with Shepherd, and despite the anger she felt towards him, it was a fate she didn't wish for him. To kill him would be an act of kindness to prevent him from ending his life in a cell that would remind him every day of what they had endured at the orphanage, this she knew although she only had a few memories of it.

Avery's situation, however, was completely different, as the poor girl had been trapped between the conflicting interests of one too many criminals. Her father's boss had murdered him, then her own uncle had manipulated her to serve his own plans, before kidnapping her. After being rescued by a biological mother she barely knew and was suspicious of, she was later interrogated extensively by the FBI because of her relationship with Roman. As if that wasn't enough, she then all but became a prisoner under constant protection in a cold, stark safe house that she was barely allowed to leave except to see her past further scrutinized for information about Crawford… And now she had just learned that her father had not killed himself, but it was her godmother, a woman she had loved and known since childhood, who had orchestrated the killing before trying to kill both herself and Jane.

It was hard to take it all in in so short of a time frame, especially for such a young person, and she gave a sigh of relief at having managed to convince her daughter, who was ready to seek her own vengeance, to give up. Avery was not a cold-blooded killer, and she couldn't bear to see her destroy her life and herself like that. Fortunately, the girl seemed to have made peace with that part of her past, and tonight's dinner was proof of that.

To see her so relaxed, so happy, provided to her a joy that could hardly be described, and Jane's heart filled with joy when, not only did her daughter admit that her behavior in recent weeks had been… to say the least difficult, which constituted as an indirect way to apologize, but also showed concern for her health during the shooting. Their relationship had been difficult at first, between Roman's lies, which made her doubt her, and her own mistakes. The tattooed woman was painfully aware that she had very little experience in how to raise or interact with her child, her meager experience being a few weeks spent with Bethany before having to flee the killers who were hot on her heels. From her first conversation with her biological daughter, however, she had been brutally made aware of the differences between caring for an adorable baby and caring for an almost grown woman with a strong personality.

These rocky beginnings had also been partly her fault, particularly because she tried to protect her daughter from everything, sometimes against her will, and she had also tried to impose on her things that she considered necessary for her safety or well-being without talking to her first. Briefly, Jane wondered if this was what Kurt had felt all those years ago when she had insisted on going out into the field to try to trigger her memories, sometimes taking heedless risks. Her gaze met her loving and clearly amused husband's, and she tried to restrain her enthusiasm. Her heart had already jumped to cloud nine when Avery had hinted that she was willing to consider spending more time with them and of being part of their lives, but she didn't want to overwhelm her or make her feel stifled with her desire to know her better.

As such, their visit to Lynette had been just as heartbreaking as usual when she learned something about Avery's past. Seeing all those pictures of her childhood had been both reassuring and… painful. Reassuring because her daughter looked so happy in each of them, which reassured her about the life she had had, at least until recently. Painful because once again it gave her a glimpse of what her life could have been without Shepherd, without her own bad decisions… if she hadn't let her baby be taken away… if she could have seen her daughter growing up…

\- "Jane… Jane," called a distant voice, attracting her attention. Returning to the present, the tattooed woman noticed that Kurt and Avery were now staring at her, one anxious and the other clearly puzzled.

\- "What?" She asked, suddenly aware that she must have been drifting for quite a while.

\- "Avery asked if the last Stars Wars movie is good with you, she hasn't seen it yet," said her husband, approaching to gently rub her upper back, looking at her with concern.

\- "Oh… of course, whatever she wants," easily answered the dark-haired woman. In reality, she didn't have any preferences at all, and she would have been prepared to watch the worst romantic comedy ever if her daughter had asked her. She wanted only one thing, to spend some time with her and the man she loved.

-" Are you okay?" Avery asked in a concerned tone that once again warmed her heart at the idea that their relationship was finally starting to smooth over.

\- "Of course, I've known worse," Jane replied automatically, before forcing herself to refrain from biting her lips as she felt her husband's hand pause on her back. She could guess easily where his thoughts would go, to a period of their lives that they both preferred not to think of too much… Without hesitation, she turned to him, passed her arm around his waist, and leaned her head on his shoulder to try to reassure him. Kurt immediately responded to her embrace. Avery glanced at them a little embarrassed and they realized with a little delay that it was probably the first time she had seen them so demonstrative in front of her.

-"Really? You took a bullet… for me," said her daughter incredulously, wondering how her mother could downplay a gunshot wound, even though she already knew that her biological mother was a badass… After all, she had seen her in action earlier in the day… While the bullets ricocheted in every direction, they had found themselves locked down without any weapons, having no choice but to wait for their attackers to break through the door, Jane had never given up. Until the end, she had used her ingenuity to give them a chance to escape, then made a diversion to allow her to flee, fighting a larger armed man with only one arm…

\- "Oh Jane is really stubborn, it takes more than a bullet to stop her," Kurt tried to joke, preferring to distract himself from the fear he had felt upon learning that his wife and Avery were trapped in a house with a woman who was threatening to shoot them both, not even knowing if they were already dead… Without Jane's ingenuity to give them a signal, he was not sure if they would have taken the risk of entering the building as quickly.

\- "Kurt exaggerates, but he is right on one point, it's only a scratch," quickly answered Jane to keep the atmosphere from darkening. The evening was calm and peaceful for the moment, a little bubble of happiness after another day of trying to thwart Roman and Crawford's plans, and she absolutely wanted it to stay that way. She tried to elbow Kurt's ribs to dissuade him from making such a joke again, but her husband easily immobilized her against him. Then, the federal agent treacherously gave a light kiss to her neck, to this little spot he knew was so sensitive, instantly freezing her on the spot as her breathing quickened.

\- "Who wants popcorn?" He asked innocently.

-"Okay… I know I'm not at my place, but please stop doing that," Avery complained, blushing at their display of affection. Jane opened her eyes she couldn't remember closing, also blushing for being surprised like that. Things had been complicated between them lately, and they were slowly learning to act as a couple again, to face their respective mistakes… For a few seconds the sweetness of the moment had made her forget about the presence of their guest…

\- "Sorry," Kurt laughed slightly in a tone that belied his words, releasing his wife who gave him a small slap to his the stomach for making a spectacle out of themselves in front of their guest.

\- "We're not really used to having anyone else here, so it'll take a bit of getting used to," she said, turning to her daughter trying not to look too embarrassed. "Not that we aren't happy to have you with us, you absolutely don't disturb us," she then hurriedly added, fearing that Avery might misinterpret her words.

\- "I know… no problem… Well as long as no one decides to walk around naked in the apartment, anyway," muttered the girl shaking her head as if she half-expected that they would forget that she was there and show themselves indecent again.

\- "We promise to be on good behavior" Kurt promised, busy in front of the microwave, though he seemed more amused than really repentant.

\- "I haven't thanked you yet," Avery said, drawing her mother's attention back to her.

\- "Yes you have," Jane said, turning to her, puzzled.

\- "No… for protecting me when Lynette started shooting everywhere… I was like paralyzed but you… you reacted immediately," sighed the youngest of the two dark-haired women, shaking her head.

\- "I'll never let anyone hurt you, not if I can prevent it," Jane answered promptly, putting a hesitant hand on her shoulder, fearing that physical contact would ruin any progress that they had made. There were so many things she wanted to say, so many things she wanted to do to prove to her daughter that she regretted not being able to raise her… "Slowly Jane, don't scare her. Remember, even if it's hard, baby steps," whispered a small voice in her head. To her relief, Avery didn't push her away and just smiled.

-"I know," she said simply with conviction before heading for the living room. Again, Jane's heart started to beat faster because of the joy she felt, until she felt Kurt's hand on her lower back.

\- "You're overthinking things, let things happen by themselves. I'm sure she already loves you, just give her some time to figure out how to show it to you," he whispered before dragging her to the living room. They joined Avery, who was obviously hesitant about where to sit.

\- "You don't have to pay more for sitting, you know," Kurt teased, seeing her brooding over the matter with surprising seriousness.

\- "I know… I'm just considering my options."

\- "What options?" Jane asked, exchanging a surprised look with her husband.

\- "Well, normally the best place is in the middle, right in front of the TV," Avery explained with a serious, curiously touching expression.

\- "Okay, so sit in the middle, Jane and I have no preference," Kurt shrugged.

\- "If I do that, I'll be between you two… On the other hand if I leave you two together, you might…"

\- "We promised be on good behavior," Jane protested before she saw the smile on the corners of her daughter's lips, realizing she was making fun of them.

\- "Okay smartass, choose the place you want," Kurt replied, rolling his eyes with an exaggerated sigh of despair.

\- "Definitely not in the middle, I don't want to be the Popcorn Guardian," Avery answered with exaggerated seriousness, as if the subject truly mattered to her, an amused glow shining in her eyes.

\- "Popcorn Guardian?" Asked the tattooed woman, looking towards Kurt, who shrugged that he didn't know anything more than she did before turning his attention to Avery.

-" Well, yeah. There are three of us, so whoever is in the middle will have to hold on to the bowl the whole time so that the others can help themselves," explained the girl.

\- "But… wouldn't it be easier to do it in turns?" Kurt asked thoughtfully.

\- "No, there's three of us, there has to be a Popcorn Guardian in the middle… It's … That's how we did it… with mom and dad when I was little," insisted the youngest dark-haired woman, looking a little embarrassed at the end. Jane's eyes widened and she exchanged an understanding look with Kurt. In her own way, Avery just suggested that they be included in one of her own family traditions…

\- "Of course… So Jane will be the Popcorn Guardian," the FBI agent said, without waiting for the bowl to balance in his wife's one useful arm before sitting on the left side of the sofa facing the TV. Avery immediately sat down on the right, leaving only one free spot. Jane rolled her eyes at their childish behavior, but still shared a knowing smile with her husband, knowing that he had done it on purpose to give her the opportunity to sit next to her daughter. The young woman sat down between them and, without waiting, Avery began to dig into the bowl. After a few minutes, Jane was snuggled against Kurt, leaning slightly sideways so that her injured arm was not crushed between them. Very quickly, she also felt a mass lean on her right shoulder, and turned her eyes to see a tangle of black curls. Leaning slightly, she saw that Avery was asleep, her head resting on her. She turned cautiously to her husband so as not to move her daughter.

-"Avery's snuggling on me," she said silently, seeming not to believe herself what was happening. She felt so… happy that she could swear that her heart was about to burst out of her chest. Of course the rational part of her mind was trying to remind her that it was not really a hug, but it was the calmest and most sincere emotional contact her daughter had voluntarily given her since she knew her, and she was going to enjoy the moment.

\- "I see that," the FBI agent said with a fond smile, using his right hand to gently rub the bird tattoo on her neck. "Just remember to breath" he teased gently, taking advantage of the fact that she couldn't fight back. Rather than retaliate, the young woman just savored the sensation, watching the rest of the film with a distracted eye. The picture they had to be making was probably… adorable was the right term. Everything felt so much… like a real family, normal people sharing a normal activity. It was… everything she had always dreamed of. No criminals to pursue, no killers on their heels…

-" Everything's alright?" Kurt suddenly asked in a low voice as tears formed in the corners of the young woman's eyes.

\- "It's just… I'm just so happy and so… I regret so much at the same time," Jane replied, feeling overwhelmed by a flood of conflicting emotions.

\- "It'll be okay, you just have to give yourself some time, I know it's difficult, but… "

\- "But when I see her… I can't stop thinking that I could lose her. I've already let Shepherd take her away from me once, I don't want it to happen again… whether it be Roman, Crawford or anyone else that takes her from me," his wife said softly in a pain filled tone.

\- "Nobody's going to take her from us, Jane," Kurt said immediately, emphasizing the "us". "She's safe here. You were only 16 then, how could you have fought against someone like Shepherd? She was a trained soldier, a sociopath. I know you couldn't fight to keep her. You just weren't a match for her then, you were just too young… and I'm sure that Avery understands it too, or she will eventually understand it," he tried to reassure her.

\- "But I don't know what to do… I want to be with her, I want to be part of her life, but I'm afraid of messing it all up again… And what if she rejects me again? Now that we've managed to find a balancing point, I'm afraid of hurting her again… I've already made so many mistakes… mistakes that have made her suffer… that have made you suffer," Jane sighed, blinking furiously to try to chase away the tears that were attempting to escape, she couldn't use her hands nor shake her head to do so without risking Avery's awakening.

\- "Well… even though you probably don't want to hear this, you probably will hurt her again," Kurt whispered softly, rubbing the corner of her eyes with his thumb to clear away the moisture from her eyes. "Nobody is perfect, Jane, making mistakes is natural, but you've never wanted to harm anyone willingly, and that's what counts. And even then… I'll be with you no matter what happens," he added quickly, not wanting his wife to misunderstand what he meant. "What?" He asked, seeing Jane looking at him with emotion filled eyes.

\- "I love you so much," murmured the young woman.

\- "I love you too," Kurt said, leaning down to kiss her as quietly as possible. The young woman then let her head rest against her husband's chest, letting herself be lulled by the regular beating of his heart, watching the film with only a distracted eye.

\- "She was so cute," she murmured after a moment.

\- "Avery?"

\- "Yes… Lynette showed us pictures of her son and Avery before she started shooting… I saw her in her Halloween costume… There are so many things that I've missed," sighed the tattooed woman with regret. They stayed that way for a few more minutes, without saying anything, simply enjoying the heat of the other, before she tried to get up.

\- "I need to go to the bathroom, but I don't want to wake her," Jane whispered, looking at Avery.

\- "Wait, let me help you," Kurt said, gently pulling away from her grasp to get up. Delicately, he grabbed Avery by the shoulders, supporting her head with one hand to allow his wife to get up. Once Jane had left the room, he allowed himself an amused smile before shaking the girl gently.

\- "She's gone, you can stop pretending," he said. Avery immediately opened her eyes embarrassedly and sat up.

\- "How did you know?"

\- "Well, I'm a federal agent," Weller boasted, earning an eye-roll that was very similar to his wife's, something that Avery was probably not even aware of.

\- "Seriously… "

\- "A sleeping person is supposed to be dead weight, not helping the one who's supporting her," Kurt replied with amusement.

\- "Oh… " Avery replied, embarrassed that such an insignificant detail betrayed her.

\- "So… how long have you been awake?" Asked the federal agent in a conversational tone, not wanting to rush their guest.

\- "Since about the time she said that she didn't want to mess things up with me," Avery admitted reluctantly.

-" I see… "

\- "You aren't going to ask me why I was pretending to be sleep?" Asked the young girl after a moment of silence.

\- "You wanted to know more about how your… how Jane sees you," Kurt replied, trying not to go too fast.

\- "You can say it you know… I know that Jane is my biological mother… And to be honest, I don't mind… I'm not mad at her anymore, I know that was what Roman wanted," muttered the girl, looking away.

\- "It's okay to want to know more about her, you know," said Weller softly. This kind of discussion would certainly please Jane, so he encouraged Avery to continue.

\- "I know, it's just that… she's so tough," whispered the young dark-haired girl, shaking her head with a hint of admiration in her voice. "All the things she can do… it's crazy. And if you had seen her this afternoon… She never gave up, it was like nothing could scare her… "

\- "There are things that scare her," Kurt replied, his eyes momentarily lost in a memory, thinking back to the three months of torture his wife had suffered at the CIA's hands and of her fear that Roman would destroy everything that they had built by killing all of her relatives. He shook himself mentally, this was not the time to broach that topic, not without risking worrying the girl unnecessarily. "She doesn't want to lose you, you mean a lot to her," he added before she could take his silence as an opportunity to question her mother's fears.

\- "It was a bit difficult to admit at first because of what Roman told me, I really thought she had abandoned me… But not now."

\- "That's a good thing," Kurt answered sincerely, glad to see that the progress they had seen was real.

\- "What's a good thing?" Jane asked as she walked back into the room, pausing a little at seeing Avery awake again.

\- "Kurt was going to tell me all of the embarrassing details about you," Avery said, turning to her with a smirk.

\- "Beware, I also know things about you," threatened the wounded woman with a faintly threatening frown at her husband, knowing that he would never do anything that would deliberately sabotage her still fragile relationship with her daughter. "Who wants hot chocolate?" She asked, turning her back to them.

\- "First thing to know about Jane, she loves chocolate a lot, in all its forms," Kurt gently quipped. "Once she ate so much at Patterson's birthday party that she was sick all night."

\- "I've done that before," Avery said before looking back at her mother, who, while bustling in the kitchen, still glanced frequently at them over her shoulder. "Except I was five," she added in an amused tone.

\- "My memory was erased and no one told me that it was bad to eat too much. It wasn't even on the packaging," protested Jane in feigned innocence.

\- "Another thing to know, she is very stubborn and she has a strong personality… even though I've recently come to the conclusion that it's probably genetic," Kurt continued as if Jane hadn't said a word.

\- "Hey!" Jane protested immediately. Avery began to laugh before she understood that he was also referring to her, and then started echoing her mother's protests.

\- "What else to say… She likes to watch those funny cat videos that are popular on YouTube."

\- "It's Patterson who sends me the links, I just look at them so as not to offend her if she asks me questions about them later," Jane defended herself, pretending to be offended, although her cheeks were slightly flushed with embarrassment.

\- "Of course, because everyone makes tests for their friends after sending them YouTube videos," Avery said, continuing to smile.

\- "In fact… If anyone does, it's Patterson, she really hates when people don't seem to listen to what she's saying," Kurt commented thoughtfully.

\- "That's because you upset her by saying that her father was more interesting than her," his wife laughed from the kitchen.

\- "It's not my fault, she always makes things so complicated while her father uses words that I can understand," defended the FBI agent.

\- "So, find a nicer way to tell her that so that she will forgive you if you don't want her to hack our cable access to prevent you from watching the football games again. Like the time you said that _Dungeons and Dragons_ was a game for pimply kids," Jane advised, pivoting briefly towards him to give him an amused look.

\- "I didn't think she would take it so badly," Kurt defended, giving her his best offended look for daring to remind him of that moment. Avery let her eyes go from one to the other, enjoying the dynamic between the two adults. The image they made in their private lives was so different from the professional and distant air they wore at the FBI, there was such chemistry between them…

\- "Any other interesting tidbits to know?" She then asked to draw their attention again. Her tone was innocent but her eyes shone with mischief, and Kurt immediately and eagerly joined the game.

\- "Well… Jane loves to act like a badass, but in reality she loves hugs from the people she loves," the FBI agent said, enjoying the sight of his wife's blushing cheeks. Not so subtly, but he could already see that Avery was mentally recording the information.

-"Really?" Avery asked, looking at her mother's reaction with astonished amusement, as she did not really give that impression. She had always seen the woman as someone who was not too fond of affectionate demonstrations. Jane blushed even more, turning to take the cups out of the cupboard, and they thought they heard her mumble, "I plead the Fifth". The two accomplices exchanged a little laugh, before Kurt decided to continue.

\- "As you can see, she can't deny it… Oh, and she is totally addicted to Wizardville."

\- "I'm not addicted, I can stop anytime I want," Jane retorted immediately.

\- "Isn't that what all the junkies say?" Avery asked innocently, pretending to seek professional advice from Kurt, while struggling to hold back laughter. She never thought it would be so easy to get her biological mother to react, or even that she was the type to play video games, but then again, it was not so amazing considering how little she really knew about her.

\- "Absolutely all of them, and believe me, I have a long career in law enforcement to prove it," Kurt replied with a fake seriousness.

\- "You're both ganging up on me," Jane complained without turning to them to hide the smile that would have belied her words.

\- "Just a second… how did you manage to open the cocoa jar with one hand?" Avery asked, seeing that her mother was pouring the chocolate powder into the cups. Immediately the dark-haired woman froze and gave them a guilty look over her shoulder.

\- "Jane," Kurt said warningly.

\- "Honestly Kurt, I'm fine, it's just a scratch," his wife said, rolling her eyes at his overprotective side.

\- "Turn around and show me your hands then," the Federal Agent challenged, getting up and walking towards her. Jane obeyed, and Avery saw that she had removed her injured left arm from the sling, which was supposed to hold her arm still to help her heal, so she could have more maneuver her arm better.

\- "You see what I mean about her stubbornness," Kurt sighed as he approached to gently put her arm back in the sling, calling Avery as a witness.

\- "I swear it's not that painful anymore," Jane tried to convince him without success.

\- "And I remember that you promised me to take it easy… " sighed the FBI agent, before adding with a mischievous smile in a low voice: "Don't force me to get the handcuffs out of the drawer of your nightstand." Unfortunately, he had spoken a little louder than he had thought, because Avery reacted immediately:

\- "Why do you have handcuffs in the drawer of… no… forget it, I don't want to know," moaned the girl, shaking her head when she understood what it involved.

\- "Well, it was you who wanted to know more about your mother's embarrassing secrets… " Weller said, obviously delighted to be able to make both of them react, though it wasn't initially his goal.

\- "Kurt!" Squealed Jane torn between the embarrassment and the fun of seeing Avery's reaction, wrapping her right arm around his stomach

\- "Yuck, I need to remove that image from my brain, and quickly," moaned the girl again, rubbing her eyes in a way that seemed to them comical, as if it could actually help.

\- "Well… I know an effective method for that, but I really don't recommend it," Jane said, trying to keep herself serious.

\- "I can confirm, far too many undesirable side effects," Kurt agreed, hugging Jane again, trying to remain impassive as well.

\- "You're horrible to me… both of you," Avery mumbled in a falsely vexed tone that could not completely hide her smile. Curiously, seeing them act so naturally in front of her was reassuring. For the first time since her father's death, she felt herself once again part of a whole, a family with it little squabbles, it joys, it pains, and it doubts.

No one had been watching the movie for a long while, and they were just quietly sipping their hot chocolate and talking before Jane and Kurt's phones rang. Jane's upset frown when she opened the message gave way to anguish when she read it and looked at Kurt. Finished with the evening with her family, the harsh reality had caught up to them.

\- "What?" Avery asked, alarmed by their reaction.

\- "Patterson cracked Lynette's laptop… Roman and Crawford are planning an attack here in New York," her mother replied.

\- "When?"

\- "Today… we have to go," Kurt answered as he got up.

\- "Wait… you can't… she's hurt," Avery protested, pointing to her mother's sling.

\- "Avery… We're the only ones who can keep Roman and Crawford from hurting even more people," Jane said softly, trying to meet her eyes. The girl didn't answer, and the tattooed woman turned to Kurt.

\- "We should bring the detail up here. I would like to take her to the Office, but Roman has the security codes to all the federal buildings in the city, she will be safer here."

\- "I'm already on it," her husband replied, quickly squeezing her hand in support, the phone already to his ear. Quickly Jane began to prepare herself, only to stop when the agents in charge of protecting Avery knocked on the door. As they were about to leave, a voice stopped them at the doorstep.

-" Mom… " It took Jane a moment to realize that Avery was addressing her, and she turned to her daughter with a fast beating heart. She was immediately engulfed in a powerful embrace and after a short hesitation, hugged her daughter. The moment seemed far too short when the young girl moved away from her.

\- "Please be careful… you said we're a family and… I'd like to get to know you better… I don't want to lose anymore of the people I care about," Avery said, her throat tight with emotion.

\- "You will not lose us, Avery, I promise we'll come back," Jane replied, trying to contain her emotions. This was not the time to lose control, she had a brother to stop before he could do any more damage than he had already done. Her daughter nodded before turning to Kurt and engulfing him in her arms too. Surprised, Kurt returned the embrace, and she took the opportunity to whisper in his ear.

\- "Please… watch out for Mom… I don't want to lose you."

\- "I promise," the federal agent said simply, before going out to join Jane in the hallway. As the elevator doors closed, their last sight was Avery's shaking a trembling hand goodbye from the doorway, and they shared a determined look. They had a future to build and it was out of the question to let Roman and Crawford deprive them of it…


End file.
